TALLAHASSEE — Barely three months after 5-year-old Phoebe Jonchuck’s father dropped her 60 feet from a bridge into Tampa Bay, lawmakers could soon vote on new legislation aimed at preventing deaths like hers. What will be considered on the House floor is not a major reform, however, but a fine-tuning of a bill passed last year, also intended to prevent child deaths. Lawmakers … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2015
Appeals court to hear arguments in Emily Gallup case
The Third District Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments Friday in an appeal filed more than two years ago of a jury verdict involving former Family Court mediator Emily Gallup. In October 2012, a Sacramento County jury found in Gallup's favor all aspects of a whistle-blowing lawsuit, awarding her $313,206 in damages. Gallup is represented by M. Catherine Jones and George Allen. The … [Read more...]
AU: Remove the burden of family violence from the victims, to the courts
Family violence has finally come to attention as a systemic wrong in need of a national plan. A federal Senate Inquiry is examining it in detail and Victoria has appointed a dedicated minister for its prevention and a Royal Commission. The Queensland Special Taskforce has just handed down its comprehensive report, and a family violence prevention advocate, the incredible Rosie Batty, has been … [Read more...]
Senator Bob Wieckowski Introduces SB 594, New Custody Evaluator Legislation
The Center for Judicial Excellence is thrilled to announce that California State Senator Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont) has introduced new family law legislation to help bring California custody evaluators into compliance with state laws and rules of court, particularly as they relate to domestic violence and child sexual abuse provisions that are routinely overlooked in evaluation reports up and down … [Read more...]
Child abduction case in jury’s hands
Nan-Hui Jo’s fate is once again in the hands of a Yolo County jury that must decide whether Jo unlawfully abducted her daughter when she took the infant to South Korea back in 2009 against the wishes of the child’s father. In December, another Yolo County jury was unable to reach a decision on the abduction charge, prompting the District Attorney’s Office to seek a retrial. The second … [Read more...]